Ericsson CEO Borje Ekholm (pictured) warned Europe needs to address problems related to regulatory policies and an uncertain investment climate to avoid falling behind in 5G.

In a blog, the executive urged Europe to move fast on deploying the next-generation technology, arguing delays regarding this are related more to a “series of structural problems” than issues involving the choice of vendor.

“The biggest roadblock relates primarily to regulatory policies. 5G must be viewed as a critical part of European national infrastructures. This is not the case today”, Ekholm said.

He highlighted a “poor investment climate for European service providers” as another key reason for the continent falling behind markets including North America, northeast Asia and Australia, adding the cost of capital and investments in new technology are “very difficult to justify”.

Ericsson’s head warned falling behind on 5G would jeopardise the European industrial base. “With two global vendors based in Europe, the continent has the prerequisite to lead”, Ekholm argued.

He claimed Ericsson was the first vendor with live commercial networks across four continents in all frequency bands, with its technology currently powering 23 live 5G networks.

Ekholm pleaded with European authorities to address issues holding back 5G during MWC19 Barcelona, citing spectrum costs, heavy regulation and licence durations as damaging the economic case for the new technology.